Rachel's Guardian
by ShouldHaveReadBetweenTheLines
Summary: Faberry. Quinn is new to McKinley and is hiding a big secret. Like, a big secret. Will Rachel find out? It's my first venture into the world of fanfic stories so no making fun of me, 'kay? R&R, please? Thanks.
1. Preface

**Preface.**

**Italy, 1919.**

'Do you trust me?' The man asked Quinn and she felt compelled to say yes. She nodded. 'Because this is only going to work if you trust me.'  
'I do trust you.' The need for words was greater than before.  
'Completely?'  
'Completely.'  
The man smiled a toothy smile and touched the centre of Quinn's forehead. Just like he had a week previously, at that exact time, in that exact place. The place where Gautier had touched her grew pleasantly hot and a fuzzy feeling engulfed her brain, then the sensation became white hot and then turned ice cold. Quinn's eyes drooped closer and closer together as the figure of the man and the room around them grew steadily darker until her top lashes touched her cheek.  
'Goodnight, my little Quinnie.' The man said, his voice was of controlled glee. 'You will need your rest for the years that come.'  
And that's all Quinn could remember.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.**

Rachel was in art when Quinn first walked into her life. Although then she had no idea how important to her the tall willowy blonde would become in later years. When Rachel watched her enter through the door with Santana and Brittany all she could think was: _Great, another Cheerio. _Her dark eyes watched as the other two girls pulled the girl to the back and sat her down in the middle of them both. As Rachel turned back to her painting she caught the narrowed eyes of Kurt Hummel, a fellow Glee Clubber, and their gazes connected. The two of them exchanged a look that clearly was of vital significance to them both and it was obvious they were both wary of this new comer. Kurt's eyes then drifted from the tiny brunette to the footballers, Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman, sat across the room. Rachel turned too and saw, without surprise, that the two males were eyeing Quinn as if she was a hunk of meat. Rachel made a disgusted noise, although neither of the boys heard it, and turned back to her work immediately.

The rest of lesson Rachel continued with her artwork although she now longed with almost all of her being that she could go and interogate the blonde or, at least, learn something about her. She didn't know where the burning passion was coming from but all she knew was that she had to find something out about this girl. And fast. When the bell rang she packed up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She left the classroom quickly and quietly. As she was walking down the corridor she was joined by Kurt and his best friend, Mercedes.  
'So,' Mercedes began in a business like way, 'did you find out anything interesting about the new girl? Kurt tells me you were both in her art.'  
Rachel shook her head. 'No, Mercedes, I didn't because unlike some people I am far more interested in things such as my education and fulfilling my lifelong goals than to snoop around tryingfind out anythingI can about a pupil new to my school. Good day.' And she walked off at high speed, leaving Mercedes and Kurt lookingas if they wanted nothing more than to murder her right there in the corridor.

When Rachel deposited her things into her locker, and had retrieved her spanishbook from it's depths, she slammed it shut, having to try three times to get it to lock, and turned to face the direction she was heading. Only to find herself face to face with Quinn.  
'Oh,' Quinn said, sounding breathless. Her golden hair littered her face and her hazel eyes swept Rachel's darker features with the look of utmost interest. 'Hi, I'm Quinn Fabray.'  
The girl held out her hand and Rachel looked at it as if it was an alien come to Earth. Then realising how much of an idiot she must have looked, she took the blondes delicate hand in her own and shook it firmly. 'Hello Quinn Fabray, I am Rachel Berry. It's nice to finally meet the new student.'  
Quinn smiled at Rachel although her face looked a little wary at Rachel's greeting before finally managing, 'Eugh, "new student" it makes me feel as if I'm being watched.'  
Rachel looked over the tall girls shoulder and saw Finn and Noah together again and staring at Quinn as if she were royalty. 'Oh I can say with the utmost certainty that you most probably are being watched.' Quinn looked behind her at the two boys and then quickly back to Rachel. Her eyes were wide.  
'Not those two again.' She muttered to herself, biting her lips. 'They've been doing that ever since art.' Rachel smiled and nodded solemnly.  
'Yes, and I daresay they will continue to do so until the end of the week.' Rachel told her and she groaned, her eyes closing momentarily.  
'That's so not what I need right now. Can we walk?' She asked Rachel, taking the smallest of the two by surprise. Rachel blinked and then nodded. 'Of course. No doubt you will wanting some guidance as to where your next lesson is situated.'  
'Er...' Quinn said, momentarily lost for words. 'Something along those lines, yes. Do you know where Mr. Schuster's classroom is, by any chance? I've got Spanish with him next.'  
Her heart fluttered and Rachel bounced a little before saying, 'Me too! Follow me.' She lead the blonde through the crowd of watchful people and she heard a few mutters here and there, but ignored them like her Dad and Daddy had told her to.  
'Is he a good teacher?' Quinn asked, following Rachel through the tides of students. 'Mr. Schuster, I mean.'  
'Oh yes,' Rachel nodded in her approval. 'Mr. Schuster is a very good teacher. He is also the leader of Glee Club and a most entertaining performer.'  
'What's Glee Club?'  
Rachel rounded on the girl swiftly, forcing her to stop in the middle of the corridor. 'You haven't heard of Glee Club?' The disbelief was rather apparent in the Jewish girl's voice. Quinn shook her head and rather regretted doingso afterwards as Rachel lunged into a long speech about how it let people of all groups, age, size, colour and religion come together and perform as one through the art of singingand dance. 'Of course,' Rachel continued after pausing for breath, 'not many Cheerios join the club.'  
'Why not?' Quinn asked, to be polite rather than the fact that she hadn't the slightest clue as to why a group like Glee was unpopular. She'd seen this sort of thing before.  
'It isn't seen in their eyes as "cool" or rather, it isn't seen in Santana's Lopez's eyes as "cool". And everyone more or less just follows her and Brittany's lead.' They stopped at a door to a classroom and Rachel ducked in, Quinn followed almost straight after. Quinn looked around the classroom for a minute and noticed the distinct grouping in the confined space. Rachel was sat at the front to the left with her textbook open in front of her, as were her excersizebook and an extra notepad on which Rachel was scribbling furiously with a violent pink pen. Quinn noticed Santana and Brittany sat at the back, but when they beckoned her over, she looked at Rachel and, although Rachel knew what was going to happen and her heart sank like the Titanic when it did, the brunette pretened that she wasn't bothered when Quinn told her she would sit with Santana and Brittany for that lesson.  
'What were you doing with her?' Rachel heard Santana ask Quinn who mumbled something along the lines of, 'She's nice. What's she done to you?' And Rachel's heart fluttered to hear someone stand up to Santana for her. A smirk she didn't realise was there, grew wider.  
'She's in Glee Club!' Santana hissed and in her minds eyes, Brittany nodded vigorously at the tan girl's side. 'She's a freak, a nobody. Cheerios do not talk to Glee Clubbers unless it's an insult, or them doing the Cheerios homework.'  
'But...' Quinn's voice trailed off and Santana talked over her, 'But nothing! It's just the way the food-chain works, Quinn, and if you don't like then you can hang around in the sub-basement with the rest of the Glee geeks. But don't come hobbling back to me and Brittany when it's all gone to shit.'  
Quinn didn't say anything else but was decidedly silent for the rest of the lesson. She didn't walk with Santana and Brittany when they left the room though. She had promised herself that at this school she would do things differently, not be a sheep. So she lied and told them she had to talk to Mr. Schusterabout something. Instead she directed her footsteps towards Rachel. Waiting behind her patiently until she'd packed up, the brunette jumped violently when she turned to see Quinn stood behind her.  
'Quinn!' She cried, her heart rate going at one hundred miles an hour. 'What are you doing standing behind me like that? You made me jump.'  
Quinn smiled and answered, 'I'm waitingfor you so we can go have lunch, stupid.' Rachel's mouth opened slightly and then, realising for the second time that day how much of an idiot she must look, she closed it hastily and tried to stop the dull flush in her cheeks from happening.  
'Why aren't you having lunch with Santana and Brittany and the other Cheerios?' Rachel asked.  
'I don't really want to eat with them, to be honest, and I still feel kinda bad about leaving you this lesson.'  
'Well, you didn't have to do that.'  
'But I wanted to.' Quinn replied curtly and Rachel's heart rate went up again, this time it had nothing to do with being made jump. Rachel looked up at Quinn, who was smiling. Rachel had the briefest though of what it would be like to have those lips on her own. But shook the thought away almost immediately.  
'What do Santana and Brittany think you are doingwhilst you are havinglunch with me?' The Jewish girl asked. She knew that Quinn wouldn't have told them straight up that she was having lunch with one of the Glee Club and her curiosity got the better of her and she wanted to know the story. 'That I'm talking to Mr. Schuabout somethingI didn't understand.' Quinn told her. Rachel was about to say something back but ended up being interupted by Mr. Schu himself.  
'Come on, girls! As nice as it is that you've made a new friend, Quinn, I'm sure neither of you want to hang around in here all day. Chop, chop!' He ushered them out of the door but turned to Quinn before she and Rachel could walk off together.  
'Are you finding it okay fitting in to Spanish right the middle of the semester?'  
Quinn nodded. 'Yes, I'm finding it very easy. I lived in Spain for quite a while before moving here, you see.'  
Mr. Schu's grin grew wider. 'Excellent.' He locked the door behind him. 'Well, I hope to see you at our Glee Club meeting tonight, Quinn, Rachel is one of our top stars after all.'  
He left promptly after and the two girls set off down the corridor. 'Well, you kept that quiet.' Quinn said after a while.  
'What?'  
'Being the star of Glee.' Quinn did little jazz-hands whilst speaking. Rachel's heart drooped again and she said, 'You're making fun of me.' She guessed that Santana and Brittany had rubbed off on Quinn more than she'd thought. The small Jewish girl started to move away from Quinn but something caught her arm. It was Quinn's hand.  
'Look,' Quinn said, 'I'm sorry. That was insensitive.'  
'No,' Rachel said, finally admitting she was wrong for once. 'I appologise, I shouldn't have overreacted the way I did. Many people dislike me because of how dramatic I am sometimes. It can take someone a while to get accustomed to it.'  
Quinn smiled. 'Well I quite like it.' And the two set off walking again. As they walked Rachel started to realise that there was more to this girl than met the eye. She was funny, sweet, kind and caring. Not to mention beautiful. She was rather angelic, actually. And Rachel had a hard time not comparing her to an angel constantly. Especially when she was staring at a girl with hair as fair as Quinn's, eyes as sparkling, skin as soft and a smile as wonderful. Rachel felt as if she were in some kind of a dream. She didn't know where the feeling was coming from but she liked it. A lot.  
When Quinn turned to go to the cafeteria she was confused to see Rachel shake her head and carry on towards the staircase.  
'Aren't we going to eat in the cafeteria?' She asked and Rachel's answer was, 'Not unless you want a slushie facial from the jocks.'  
So it was the jocks at this school who were the bullies. Quinn had been to a number of school's where the bullies had been many different cliques of people. The moshers, the rebels, the stonersand the pretty boys and pretty girls. But they all had one big thing in common; they were all the most popular group in school because everyone was shit scared of them.  
'Ah,' Quinn said with a wry smile. 'Say no more.'

When Rachel and Quinn finally sat down to eat lunch it was in a spacious room that had seats going around the side and a grand piano sat towards the front of the room. There were a few people in there when Quinn and Rachel entered. Kurt and Mercedes were sat in a corner with Tina and Artie, they all seemed to be in deep discussion about something. Mercedes looked up as the two girls entered, and her eyes widened and then narrowed almost instantly afterwards. The others looked up a few moments later and their reactions were almost exactly the same as Mercedes.  
'Everyone,' Rachel said loudly, although it was obvious she already had everyone in the room's attention, 'this is Quinn Fabray. She is a new student here, as some of you may know. And she has come to have lunch with us all. I think she would appreciate it if we could all be mature and treat her with respect and common decency.'  
There was a mumble and then Mercedes said, 'Is she joining Glee Club?' It was obvious the girl didn't think that Quinn was cut out for this little club, and the way she was surveying the blonde as if she was a peiceof dirt made Quinn bristle with anger. She hadn't even said two words and they were already judging her. Quinn had half the mind to pound Mercedes to a pulp, and the Lord knew she could do it. But, talkinga big breath and realising how stupid that would be, she kept the lid on her anger and let it slide.  
'I don't know.' Rachel answered truthfully. She looked at Quinn. 'Are you joining Glee Club, Quinn?'  
Quinn hesitated. She didn't know why. She liked Rachel and the others, maybe not Mercedes, seemed nice enough to become her friends so she couldn't see why not. But it was just the case of whether she would be allowed into Cheerios if she was in Glee.  
Mercedes answered for her. 'I doubt that Ms. Quinn would want to ruin her reputation of Cheerio too quickly.' The girl said and anger flashed through Quinn.  
'You don't have to be a bitch.' Quinn said. 'I haven't even done anything to you for you to hate me, have I?'  
Mercedes features contorted into rage and she looked like she was going to scream and shout at Quinn but Rachel, who was grinning madly Quinn noted, stepped in before anything could go down. 'Mercedes sometimes has a hard time adapting to new-comers in Glee. The Club hasn't exactly had the best few years.'  
'Anyone who joins could be in the employment of her.' Kurt said dramatically. 'Who?' Quinn asked.  
'Coach Sylvester.' The group muttered outloud. And when the blondecontinued to frown at them all the boy named Artie explained. 'She's the head of the Cheerios. She awful and cruel and will do anything to get Glee Club cut from the school budget.'  
'So that she has more money to spend on her precious Cheerios.' Mercedes said, lookingat Quinn as if it was her fault. Quinn blanched a little. She'd been to a lot of schools, and that meant a lot of schools, but she had never heard of a teacher having that much of a vendetta against a little school club. This woman sounded awful and she was going to be Quinn's Cheerleading coach, if she was able to join that was. The cogs in Quinn's brain ticked and clocked as she thought out a plan to stop this woman.  
'So...you guys want to stop her, right?' Quinn asked, still conjuring up a plan in her head. The Glee Clubbers nodded. Quinn was silent a few minutes more and then her brain finally came to a stop on something. A wide grin spead across the angelic blondes face and she said, 'I've got it.'  
'Got what?'  
'Got _it. _A plan to stop Coach Sylvester.' She answered and they all looked taken aback at how quickly the blondehad come to think of something like that. The blonde was grinning deviously. 'If I join Cheerios. I mean,' she corrected herself as they all looked shocked beyond words. 'If I make everyone think that I'm a Cheerio and I become popular and date the good-looking guys and all that stuff that comes with it, I might be able to convert a few people.'  
'What are you talking about, Quinn?'  
'I'll bet that one of those boys that keep staringat me would do anything to get me into bed.' Quinn said, and Rachel looked positively nauseated at the thought. Quinn glowed a little inside at the thought of Rachel's jealously but quenched the feelingalmost immediately. 'So...if I say to them that I'll sleep with them if they join Glee Club then...maybe, just maybe, Glee Club will get the attention and popularity it deserves. I mean, they're all sheep, right? If one of them does something I'm pretty sure the rest will follow. And Noah Puckerman seems to have a lot of authority around this school.' Quinn smiled broadly at them all, most of them seemed too shocked to even comprehend what had just been developed right before their eyes.  
Then Mercedes spoke up, 'You know, that might even be crazy enough to work.' She looked at Quinn. 'Sorry for judging you too quickly Quinn. I mean, girl, you're actually all right.' She smiled at Quinn briefly.  
They spent the rest of lunch developing the plan to it was down to a point of it almost being completely foolproof. When the bell rang for them to get to their next lesson Rachel and Quinn walked back to their lockers and deposited their things they didn't need, and picked up the things they did.  
'So, are you coming to the Glee meeting, tonight?' Rachel asked, her heart pumped menacingly as she asked and, once again, she couldn't fathom out why. Quinn nodded. 'Probably. What will I have to do to get in the Club?'  
'I wouldn't worry about not getting in if I was you Quinn.' Rachel told her. 'As you saw our numbers aren't exactly in the hundreds and Mr. Schuster usually just lets anyone who asks join. I guess he will make you sing a solo to test your ability and then we will set to work on a new number.'  
Quinn didn't think that sounded too bad. 'Okay, I'll be there.'  
Rachel smiled and looked over her new friends shoulder. Her heart sunk a little as she saw two Cheerios round the corner. 'Santana and Brittany.' She told Quinn quietly. Quinn groaned and turned around to face her locker. Banging it shut and throwing her bag over her shoulder she muttered to Rachel, 'I'll see you tonight.' And she walked off to join the two girls who accepted her without even lookingor acknowledging her. Rachel watched as the three girls turned the corner at the end of the corridor, slammed her locker door shut angrily and stormed off to her next lesson.

Rachel couldn't wait to get to Glee Club that night. She usually couldn't anyway but the fact that Quinn was going to be there was an added bonus that made Rachel's heart race quicker than it had done in a long time. When the bell rang to indicate the end of school the tiny brunette practically ran to the auditorium. Depositing her bag down on the floor Rachel sat at the front of the room just before the stage and waited whilst the other's filed into the room. Quinn arrived with Tina and Artie and sat down next to Rachel almost as soon as she saw her. Rachel beamed at Quinn.  
'You came.'  
'Of course,' Quinn said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, 'I wouldn't miss a chance to see you perform for the world.' And she winked. Rachel giggled. Mr. Schuster arrived moments later, his arms ladden with books and files, but his mouth was pulled into a wide smile and he looked a lot happier than Quinn had seen him in class that day.  
'Okay,' he said, sitting on the stage and addressing the small group as if there were millions of pupils sat before him, 'as you all can see we have got a new student.' He smiled at Quinn, she smiled back. 'And I'm sure most of you are delighted to have another addition to the team. But, before we can set to work on a new number, Quinn, I'm going to have to make you perform a little something for us. A song or dance if you'd like, just so we can test your abilities and see how you will fit into Glee Club as a performer.'  
'All right.' Quinn said, her heartbeat raced a little as she climbed the steps onto the stage and took her place in the middle. Having everyone stare at her like they were doing made her a little more nervous than she'd anticipated she would be. Her mind whirled a little before she came to rest upon which song she would like to sing. Finally her mind stopped on _Papa Don't Preach _By Madonna.  
As she sang she looked around at the faces watching her, Rachel, Mr. Schuand a few others were smiling and the blonde saw Kurt and Mercedes looking as if she'd punched them both in the face without any warning. When she stopped there was a round of applause from most and Mr. Schu beckoned her off the stage.  
'Well done, Quinn, really well done.' He said as he stood up to speak again.  
Quinn sat down next to Rachel who was grinning at Quinn largely, her eyes lit up. 'How did I do?'  
'Wonderful, you were just wonderful.' Rachel had trouble gettingher words out. It probably had something to do with the weird tingly feeling she had in her stomach, she supposed she was just relieved that Quinn pulled it off but part of her was tellingthe Jewish girl it was somethingdifferent. She didn't have a clue what it was but, whatever it happened to be, it seemed like a good thing.

For the next couple of weeks Quinn weaved herself into the popular group in the school, making friends with the rest of the Cheerios and managing to join the club herself, she flirted with Puck, Finn and some of the other footballers and, although she hated to do so, laughed and joked with Santana and Brittany about the not-so-popular people at the school. A.K.A., Glee Club. All the while she attended the Glee Club and found herself getting closer and closer to Rachel. The brunette made her feel happier than she had in a _long, _long time and Rachel felt the same away about Quinn.  
After a particularly long Glee Club session Quinn dropped Rachel off at her house like normal but, this time, the brunette didn't get out of the car. 'Do you want to come in for a drink?' Rachel asked Quinn after a few moments silence. Quinn shook her head. 'I can't, sorry. I have to get ready for a date.'  
Rachel blinked. 'A date?' She repeated, her throat felt suddenly dry.  
'Yeah,' Quinn said slowly. 'It's with Puck. I'm going to try and persuade him to join Glee.' She looked at Rachel who wasn't looking at her, but out of the front window. 'I'm not going on a date with him because I like him,' she explained, 'I think he's too loud and big-headed and, well, down-right cruel most of the time.'  
'Really?' The brunette turned to look at the blonde.  
'Yeah,' Quinn said, with a grin, 'he's...definately not my type.' Rachel grinned back and opened the door. Clambering out she said, 'I suppose I'll see you on Monday then.'  
'I suppose you will.' Quinn said in return. Rachel slammed the door and Quinn watched the tiny girl get into her hallway before driving off to her own apartment to get ready for what was definately going to be a long night ahead of her.

Quinn got to the restaurant Puck her told her ten minutes later than she was supposed to be there and found him sat at a table near the window. He stood up as she walked over to him and pulled out her chair for her. Slippinginto the seat Quinn took off her coat and then pulled out a menu to have a look. After choosing what she wanted and waiting for Puck to order his as well, she stared out of the window thinking about how Rachel looked that day when she'd put her hair up to dance in their Glee rehearsal. The thought flew to the back of her mind, however, when Puck began talking.  
'So, tell me, Quinn,' he started off loudly, his cocky smirk playing around his lips and Quinn was immediately annoyed by him. 'What interests you in a boy?' Quinn smiled, she knew this was coming, she seen it on plenty of dates she'd been on. Puck was obviously wanting Quinn to compliment him but the blonde wasn't about to oblige.  
'Oh, the usual,' she said, 'sweet, trustworthy, good sense of humour. But mostly I like it when a guy stands out from the crowd, you know?'  
'Not really,' Puck said slowly, his eyebrows pulling together in a frown.  
'I like it when they're not bothered about being in the "it" crowd. Kind of like Artie from the Glee Club.'  
Puck's eyes widened and he looked like he was about to spit his drink all over the table cloth. 'You have a crush on Wheelchair Boy?'  
Quinn shook her head, letting out a (fake) frustrated sigh. 'I don't have a crush on Artie, I just like the fact that he does what he wants to do and isn't bothered about what people think.'  
'So...let me get this straight,' Puck sat up a little straighter in his chair. 'You'd find it attractive if the guy you were dating was in _Glee Club_?'  
'Mm-hmm.' Quinn said taking a sip of her drink. 'I'd find it really...sexy, do you know what I mean? I think most girls do, actually.'  
Puck sat back and mumbled, 'Well I never.' And was mysteriously silent for the rest of the date.

When Quinn got back to school the next Monday she headed straight to her locker and was happy to see Rachel lurking about near hers too. 'Hey, Rach.' Quinn said and Rachel started a little, her heart having just jumped into her throat, and turned to face the blonde. 'How did it go?' Rachel asked Quinn. 'The date with Puck, I mean.'  
'It went just as planned,' Quinn said, noticing Santana and Brittany walk around the corner behind the tiny brunette. 'But I'll tell you about it at Glee.' Rachel looked round and saw, must to her disdain, the Cheerios she now absolutely hated. She saw Quinn join them and watched as they got to the end of the corridor and turned out of sight. Rachel found her things for Spanish class and headed towards her classroom. On her way there she got stopped by a bunch of footballers. 'Look,' she said, 'if you're hear to give me a gang slushie facial then can you please do it nearer a bathroom?'  
'We're not going to give you a slushie facial, Rachel,' Finn Hudsen told her, 'we just want to know what time Glee Club is on.'  
'What?'  
'Just tell us already, will you?' Puck urged her and Rachel spat out quickly, 'There is one at lunch but, before you think about joining, I suggest you think about putting a perfomancetogether.' And she scuttled off to classroom figuring that Quinn's plan to get them to join had gone better than expected. The brunette also found that her love for the blonde was growing more and more each second.

When the two girls got to Glee Club that dinner they found Mercedes and Kurt having a heated discussion with four footballers who were stood looking extremely wary and lost. 'What's going on?' Quinn asked the group. Mercedes and Kurt ignored her but Puck answered in a sulky voice. 'These freaks won't let us audition for Glee because they think that we're going to sabotage their plans for their stupid competition.'  
'You're all auditioning for Glee?' Quinn looked genuinly surprised. Puck nodded. 'Yeah, what you said to me on Friday really hit home and I thought I'd better tell these lot.'  
'Yeah, and we wanna audition but, as Puck said, this lot won't let us.' A boy Rachel thought was called Matt said. Quinn looked from one group to another and then said to Kurt and Mercedes, 'I think it's only fair to let these boys do a little audition for us, don't you?' And she gave the two friends a look they immediately understood.  
'Okay,' Mercedes said, 'we'll let them audition, just as long as they prove watching them ain't a waste of time.'  
Quinn rolled her eyes and said to the footballers, 'You'd better sit down and wait for Mr. Schu to arrive.' The footballers did as she asked and then Finn asked, 'How come you're here then, Quinn? I didn't know you did Glee Club.'  
'I've been in Glee Club since I've been at this school. Longer than I've been in Cheerios, actually.' She gave Rachel a looked, who giggled and then sat down. Quinn sat next to her.  
'Huh.' Puck said. 'You never mentioned that to me.'  
'I don't tell you everything Puck.' Quinn said coolly and Puck's eyebrows raised considerably and it was hard for Rachel to supress a grin when she was glowing so much inside.  
Mr. Schusterarrived a few minutes later and he looked amazed at how many people were sat in the room. 'Are you guys here to discuss something about Spanish?' he asked the jocks slowly. They shook their heads and when Mr. Schuster continued to look confused Quinn told him, 'I managed to persuade Puck to join Glee, Mr. Schu, and he's ended up bringing a few friends.'  
Mr. Schuster's big warm smile was back again and he said, 'That's great, Quinn! I'm glad you're spreading the word a little. Have you guys got a routine for us to watch or...?'  
The guys nodded and trudged up to the front of the class. 'Er..we only knew this morning that we needed an audition peice so it's a little rough.' Finn told the group.  
The footballers sang _It's My Life _By Bon Joviand, as it turned out, Puck and Finn both had amazing voices both and the other two were pretty good dancers. There was a smatter of applause and then Mr. Schugot up to teach the group yet another number. The practise went better than Quinn had ever heard and even Rachel admitted that her and Finn splitting the lead vocals for _Don't Stop Believing _sounded much better than it had with just her.

At the end of the day Quinn dropped Rachel off at her house as per normal and Rachel said, 'I'm delighted that our plan has worked.'  
'You say that like it's over.' Quinn said, and she smiled when Rachel looked at her shocked and sharply. 'It's not over?'  
'Not even a little bit.' Quinn said. 'I'm not going to be able to sleep at night until I've helped you out the most I can, Rachel.'  
This declaration surprised the small Jewish girl but she felt heartened all the same. 'Thank you, Quinn, that's very nice of you.' Quinn pulled up outside of Rachel's house and the small girl asked the blonde, 'Would you like to come in for a drink. I have been wanting for a while for you to meet my dad's.'  
'For a while?' Quinn asked. 'We've only known each other for a week.' She got out the car and walked with Rachel up the path. Rachel had the weirdest feeling that it was like she was taking a partner home to meet her parents. She shook the feeling off quickly. Opening the door and stepping into the hallway she called out, 'Dad! Daddy! I'm home and I've brought a friend.'  
'In here, sweetie!' Came a voice from a room at the far end of the hallway. Rachel took off her shoes and bag and placed them next to the door. Quinn did the same, and followed her friend into what seemed to be a dining room and kitchen.  
'Hello, Dad, Daddy. This is Quinn.' Rachel said as soon as she walked into the room. 'She's new at school and has joined the Glee Club.'  
'Hello, sweetie. And hello Quinn,' said one of the men, who was sat at the dining table looking at what appeared to be different colours of paint. Another man was stood in the kitchen cooking something that smelled delicious.  
'Hello, Mr. Berry.' Quinn said. 'And Mr. Berry, again.' The two men laughed and Rachel smiled.  
'What are you looking at Daddy?' Rachel said, joining her father at the table and peering over his shoulder.  
'I don't know what colour to paint the spare room.' The man said and he sighed dramatically. 'Oh, it's such a pain having only one child sometime. All this space and nothing to do with it!'  
Rachel laughed and the man at the stove asked Quinn, 'Are you staying for tea, Quinn? There's enough to go around, if you would like to.'  
Quinn looked at Rachel who asked, 'You can stay, can't you? Or do you have something to do?'  
_Food shopping, _Quinn thought immediately after Rachel asked the question but didn't say that. The words escaped her mouth before she meant to say them, 'Yeah, I can stay. I don't have anything else to do.' She guessed the shopping would have to wait until tomorrow.  
So Quinn stayed for tea at the Berry household and had a wonderful time. As a family the Berry's were very perfect, if a little unconventional. Rachel was the perfect daughter, willing to help out and not beingthe moody, selfish teenager so many children were these days, and it was obvious her two fathers were still very much in love. And Quinn didn't feel like an intruder onto a happy family, they included her in everything from settingthe dinner table to choosing what to put on T.V. that night and even took her advice on what colour to paint the spare room.  
When Quinn decided to leave the two men protested that she could stay the night but she politely declined. Rachel walked her to her car and, when Quinn had hopped in the brunette said, 'Have you had fun tonight, it wasn't too boring, was it?'  
'Not at all.' Quinn said. 'I haven't had that much fun in a really long time.' And it was the truth, she hadn't had that much fun after school in a very, very long time indeed. As the blonde drove off Rachel watched her go. Returning to her room she lay down on the bed and thought about her feelings towards the blonde. Quinn did exactly the same whilst driving back to her empty apartment. Hours seemed to go by whilst both girls thought about the way they felt towards the other. Then, when both of them had picked apart every moment they had had together, every emotion that had flowed through their veins, they both thought in unison: _It's official, I'm in love with her. _


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

In the next few months time saw the girls grew very close together. Closer, in fact, that Quinn had ever been to anyone. Although she knew she could never fully be with Rachel the way she wanted to be, she was content with just seeing the brunette smile, laugh and perform everyday. Quinn had taken to staying at Rachel's house for tea almost every night and it got to the point were Rachel's parents ended up asking if Quinn wanted to move in with them. Having told them that she lived alone because both parents had passed away and the rest of her family lived in Spain, the two men deemed it inappropriate that a teenage girl should have to live alone in a dingy flat above a pizza joint. 'No way to live as a child,' Rachel's Daddy had told her one time. 'No teenager should have to live alone, without any guidance or support.' The brunettes Dad had put it more kindly. The blonde had merely smiled and told them that she took enough advantage of them as it was and that she would feel unbeleivably guilty living in their home, eating there food and using their water and electricity.

'Do you not want to live with us?' Rachel had asked Quinn two months after Quinn had first arrived into Rachel's life. It was Friday night and they were up in Rachel's room watching _Rent _on DVD for what seemed like the one millionth time to Quinn. But Quinn didn't mind, she loved to watch Rachel mouth the words and sing the songs with Idina and the rest of them almost as much as she liked to watch the actual film.  
'Of course I do,' Quinn said. 'It's just...I don't like taking advantage of people because...well I just don't. I haven't been brought up that way.'  
Rachel was silent for a few minutes and then was silent for a few minutes. She pretended to watch the film but was really bargaining with herself what to say next. Rachel knew what she wanted to say. But she always knew what she ought to say. And they were two very different things. Finally, coming to rest on what she was going to say, Rachel swallowed hard and paused the film.  
'What're you doing? I thought that was your favourite part?' Quinn asked.  
Rachel nodded and took a huge breath. 'It is. But what I want to say to you is more important than any film or musical.'  
Quinn rolled over off her side and sat up straight. Looking at her best friend seriously she waited until the brunette spoke.  
'I love you, Quinn.' She said. 'I just thought you should know. I've loved you ever since I met you and even though I love what we have, being best friends and as close as we are, I feel like I...I want something...more. Do you ever get that?'  
Quinn blinked. She hadn't expected that at all. The blonde thought for a while and then she said, 'Rachel, look-'  
'Oh,' Rachel said, a dull flush creeping up into her cheeks. 'I get it. You...you're straight. That...that's fine, I guess I just thought that maybe we had something different.' Rachel got up off the bed and turned away from Quinn. She tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes and off her cheeks without her best friend seeing.  
'That's not what I was going to say, Rach,' Quinn said, getting off the bed herself and turning Rachel to face her. 'What we have it...it's good. It's really good. And I want more than anything in the world, more than food, water or air, to be with you in that way but...you need to know some things before...before you can make an accurate and informed decision.'  
Rachel smiled. 'Quinn, I am pretty certain that whatever it is that you have to tell me I will still want you to be my girlfriend. I have thought about this for a long time.'  
'We'll just have to wait and see.' Quinn mumbled to herself. She lead Rachel back to the bed and they both sat down. Both girls sat cross-legged facing each other. 'Okay...so, there is no easy way to say this Rach so I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: I don't age.'  
'What?'  
'I don't age. I'm what people call a Guardian.' Quinn took a deep breath and looked up from her hands to her brunette sat in front of her. Rachel felt as if the whole world had slipped out from underneath her, everything was spinning, she couldn't see anything except for the blonde sat in front of her. _Surely, _Rachel thought, _surely this is some kind of joke.  
_'You are joking, right? You're kidding me, aren't you?'  
Quinn shook her head. 'No, I'm not. I was born on October 1902, Italy. My dad had died defending his country during the retaliation of the labor revolt in 1900. My mother died during child birth. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle. I lived a normal, happy life with them out in the country until my Aunt Lenobia died. She was old, well, old for those times anyway. She'd been fifty-one went it happened and I was thirteen, my Uncle went not long after, I was fifteen when that happened. So I was alone. I mean, sure, they'd left me their house and a fair amount of money they left was mine but I was still alone. Then, one day, I was walking through the town on my way back from the market when I got pulled into a tiny side-street. I tried to scream but found I couldn't, it was as if I'd lost my voice. I looked around to see a man stood their grinning over me. He was around thirty something and his name was Gautier, he told me he could help me. He told me I could travel with him and never have to be alone again. He was a Guardian as well, Rach, and he was assigned to me.'  
'Assigned?'  
'Some Guardian's feel a certain pull towards humans that have been going through a tough time, physically or mentally. I had been having a tough time, I guess, everyone I knew and loved had died on me. And Gautier was my Guardian because of that. He told my he could help me and I let him. Even though I didn't know him I felt that I could trust him, I'm guessing it's because we were assigned to one another. Anyway, he did help me. He Changed me.'  
Quinn paused so that Rachel could ask question but Rachel had none. This was mad. Entirely, entirely mad. 'Go on.' She managed to say through dried lips.  
Quinn swallowed and carried on. 'So, Gautier Changed me into a Guardian and we travelled the world together for a long time. We saw everything. Halleys commet for the first time, the bubonic plague in India, women having the right to vote in America, Pluto being discovered, Ghandi's salt march, the Korean war, both World Wars. We split up in the seventies because Gautier wanted to stay in England because he'd been assigned to another human there, I left him and went to Woodstock.'  
'Woodstock? As in the real Woodstock?'  
Quinn nodded. 'Yeah, it's like nothing you've ever seen before, Rach. And I even cried when the Beatles split up, and when John Lennon was assassinated.'  
'Wow.' Rachel said, sounding amazed. She sat back against her mountain of pillows and stuffed toys. 'You really know your stuff. And that leads me to believe that you either were there to witness it all or...you're a madman that's really studied history a lot.'  
Quinn laughed and said, 'So, now you know. What do you think?'  
'I think that I need to lie down.' Rachel said truthfully. 'Don't go anywhere though. Stay the night.'  
Quinn thought about it for a moment and then realised she had no reason to hold back. No reason at all. She'd told Rachel everything. 'Okay.' She said and she settled down next to the brunette. Rachel snuggled down into Quinn's curved body and Quinn wrapped her hands around the Jewish girls waist.  
'Oh, and another thing.' Quinn said.  
'Yes?'  
'I love you, too.'

The next day the two girls were woken up by Rachel's alarm going off. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes the brunette rolled over to look at the beautiful blonde laid next to her. She smiled, not being able to believe her luck. That night when Quinn had fallen asleep next to her, breathing deeply and evenly, Rachel had stayed awake thinking things through. She believed what Quinn had told her, even though it was mad, she saw it in the girls eyes that it was the absolute truth and Rachel knew that Quinn would never lie to her anyway. She just knew it. She'd thought about the consequences and the life-changing decisions she knew one day the two of them would face together but she didn't care. Nothing seemed big enough to stop her from wanting, needing, to be with Quinn. Because she was more than just a silly teenage crush. The blonde was her soulmate.  
Rachel watched as Quinn opened her eyes and smiled.  
'Mornin' beautiful.' Quinn mumbled and she sat up straight, blinking in the morning sun.  
'Morning.' Rachel replied curtly and she rolled off the bed and stood to face her girlfriend, who was looking at her sleepily. 'Quinn, I have something to say-'  
'You've decided against being with me.' Quinn stated.  
'No,' Rachel said. 'But you had your speech last night and I think it is only fair that I now have mine.'  
The other girl grinned, she'd heard Rachel's speeches more often than not and could not think of a better thing to wake up to in the morning. 'Go ahead, hun.'  
Rachel took a deep breath. 'Last night whilst you were sleeping I thought things through. I thought about everything you told me and considered every possibility, every ending and everything we have been through together and it is safe to say that I believe you, Quinn Fabray, about you being a Guardian Angel.'  
Quinn let out a short bark of laughter. 'I'm not a Guardian Angel, Rach, just a Guardian.'  
'Well, you call it what you want but, to me, you're my Guardian Angel, Quinn. And I love you. So, I suggest that from this day forward we address each other like we're partners and if people ask we give them the honest answer: that we are an item.'  
'Okay.' Quinn said. 'What about your parents?'  
'I suggest we tell them during breakfast.'  
'Will they be okay with you being a lesbian?'  
Rachel looked at her girlfriend skeptically. 'Quinn, I have two gay dad's, I doubt that they will be upset over finding out their daughter is gay also.'  
Quinn smiled and got off the bed. 'So, I guess it won't hurt if we do this...' she took Rachel's chin in her hand and brought the brunettes lips up to claim her own. One of Rachel's hands went up around Quinn's waist, the other tangled in her long blonde hair. Quinn held the brunette close to her and kissed her long and passionately. It was as if the brunette and blonde fit together perfectly like peices of a jig-saw puzzle, perfect for no-one but each other. When they broke apart for air it was much too soon for both girls' liking. They were both panting heavily and when Rachel got her breath back she said, 'Okay, I think we need to tell my parents before this goes any further.'  
Quinn liked the idea of the moment going "further" but her stomach flipped at the thought of telling Rachel's parents. Even though she knew they'd be fine with it. The two girls joined hands as the left the room, walked down the stairs, and entered the kitchen in which the two men were sat having breakfast.  
'Good morning, Rachel.' Kevin, Rachel's Daddy, said when they walked into the room. 'And Quinn, too! Did you stay the night?'  
'Yeah, I hope that isn't too much of a problem.' Quin replied.  
'Not at all, not at all.' Phil, Rachel's Dad, told her. Then, when neither of the two girls moved, his eyes narrowed. 'You look like you have something to say, sweeties.'  
Rachel took a deep breath and stepped further into the room. Quinn stepped with her so she didn't look so alone. 'Dad, Daddy, me and Quinn have something to say to you.' Both men were paying the utmost attention. 'It may have come to your attention that me and Quinn are rather close,' both men nodded. 'Well, we're very close. In fact, last night we both deemed it appropriate for us to be together...in the way that you two are together.'  
Both men's eyebrows raised for a minute, then they looked from Quinn to Rachel to each other. After a few seconds silence Phil finally managed to cry out, 'Finally! God! We've been waiting for you two to get together for the past month! It was like watching a soap opera!'  
Kevin and Phil both laughed and it took a while for the two girls to proccess what had just happened before they joined in the laughter too. The atmosphere in the room brightened and became lighter again and Kevin offered both girls breakfast and they sat down to eat.  
The rest of the morning was spent with the two girls watching T.V. and lounging around on the sofa. When Rachel's dads asked if the two of them were going to get dressed Rachel finally let Quinn return home for some clothes, but only after the blonde had promised that she would return as soon as possible. When Quinn returned in the afternoon, it was with an overnight bag in her hands after receiving a text from Rachel explaining that if she didn't stay the night the brunette would be rather angry with the blonde.

That night was their first time together. It was more exciting for Quinn than her first time with anyone had been and Rachel decided that she enjoyed it thoroughly. When they had finished both girls lay panting and sweating on the bed as if they'd just run a marathon. It took a while for them to regain breath and when they did Rachel was the first to ask a question.  
'Quinn, what was it like?'  
'What? Just then? Quite spectacular, why?'  
'Not then, although I am pleased to hear you liked it. I mean, living for all these years. Witnessing so many important events. What was Woodstock like?'  
'Woodstock? It was...amazing. Everyone was just off their face completely and, if I didn't have to go through all the vomiting afterwards, I'd do it again. It's been my favourite part of living all these years. Although, now it's second best to these past few months with you.'  
Rachel smiled. 'I would have loved to have lived in the sixties-'  
'It was pretty much the seventies, to be honest.'  
'But, still, it sounds amazing.'  
'I'd still rather be here with you then at Woodstock. Or any place in time, really.' Quinn told the brunette quietly. Rachel giggled. 'That is one of the weirdest compliments I have ever been given, Quinn. And also the sweetest.'  
Quinn smiled and kissed her girlfriend on the lips. 'I mean it, though. I'd do anything to be with you, Rach. I...you're my soulmate and I love you.'  
'I love you, too.' Rachel murmured against the blondes lips. And the rest of the night was spent full of passion and pleasure.

When it came to school the following Monday, Quinn had spent the night at Rachel's once again, so the two girls got the same car to school. When the two of them got out of the car, not many people took much notice but Rachel felt as if the whole world was staring at her. She met Quinn at the end of the car and the blondes hand entwined into her own. 'You alright, hun?'  
Rachel nodded. 'Yes. I've been stared at many times before and this time it will be for a good reason that people are looking at us.'  
'Exactly.' Quinn said. 'And if people give you a hard time, tell me, and I'll knock them into next week.'  
Rachel laughed and they entered the school building. They reached their lockers and Rachel saw out of the corner of her eye, Santana and Brittany rounded the corner not long after them. 'They're coming over here.' Rachel muttered to Quinn, who took her hand again and replied, 'They can't do anything to hurt you, not when I'm here.' Rachel felt Quinn's lips press against her cheek briefly before she turned to face the Cheerios head on.  
'What are you doing with her?' Santana asked bluntly. Her dark, brooding eyes skimmed down Rachel's attire and then came to rest upon the girls entwined hands.  
She let out a peel of dark laughter and Rachel couldn't even blame Brittany for asking, 'What are you laughing at? Am I supposed to be laughing as well? Because you know how I don't get silent jokes.'  
'They're together, Brittany. Look at their hands.' Santana pointed downwards and Brittany's eyes came to rest upon the hands.  
'I don't get it.'  
'They're holding hands, Britt. Quinn's with the freak in the way that you are with Matt. She obviously touches her in that way as well. She's probably fucking her, too.' Santana's voice went suddenly cold and vicious. She didn't say anything else as she gave them a disgusted look. 'You people make me sick. Come on, Brittany, we're leaving.' The two girls linked pinky fingers like always and strutted off up the corridor.  
'Huh.' Quinn said, seeming politely amused. 'I always knew that Santana was mean but homophobic was one thing I didn't think of.'  
'She's Catholic.' Rachel managed to get out, the whole of her body had gone cold with what Santana had said. 'They all think that way. C'mon, we should probably get to Spanish.'  
And the brunette walked off with the blonde, feeling now that, with Quinn by her side, she could face anything. Aslong as she had her destiny solidly at her side.

Within the next few months everyone at school found out about the two girls. And neither of them cared. They were happy with each other and that was all that mattered. Rachel's parents still insisted on Quinn living with them and Quinn still refused out of politeness, always giving them the same excuse everytime: that she didn't want to take advantage of them, that she hadn't been raised to think like that. 'I still think it's awful for you to live on your own, honey.' Kevin had told her over tea one night.  
Quinn smiled. 'I don't mind it really. As long as I know you guys are just a few blokes away I don't care where I live.'  
Kevin smiled. 'You're so sweet, Quinn. Like the second daughter I never had.'  
Quinn and Rachel retired to the brunettes bedroom after tea and Rachel put on a DVD as always. They watched the film together, Quinn had her arm around Rachel's shoulder as the brunette snuggled into the blondes torso. The position was so natural for them it was as if it had been invented just for them.  
'Do you ever get bored?' Rachel asked after a while. 'Of doing the same thing every night, I mean?'  
Quinn didn't really think about her answer. 'No, not at all. With you, I could never be bored. You're the only reason I'm sticking around here.'  
Rachel smiled and planted a kiss on her girlfriends chin. 'I love you, Quinn, you do know that, right?'  
Quinn grinned. 'Well now I do. And I love you, too. Always.'

When Quinn got home that night from Rachel's house she opened the door to her apartment and turned on the lights. 'Hello, little Quinnie.' A voice said from the darkness. A deadly familiar voice. 'You're finally home.'  
'Gautier?' Quinn asked, and the man himself stepped out from the bedroom doorway. 'Gautier!' Quinn repeated and she flung herself at the man, claiming him in a tight embrace. 'How are you? I haven't seen you in, like, fourty years!'  
'I'm very well thank you. I was passing through the country and I thought I'd drop by.'  
'How did you find me?'  
'You're old landlord told me you'd moved out of the apartment in Chicago, I also asked Marie who lived across the hall from you and she said that you'd moved here. Then I looked you up in the directory.' Gautier replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  
'You haven't changed.' Quinn told him.  
'Yep, it's one of the perks of never ageing. So...how are you? You seem to be doing well. How come you were back so late? Boyfriend?'  
'Nah,' Quinn said with a smirk. 'Being straight's so overrated, it's all about the lesbianism now, Gaut.'  
Gautier's eyes widened in surprise and then he finally managed out a sentence. 'That was unexpected. Who's the lucky girl?'  
'Her names Rachel Berry...' Quinn spent several minutes explainng how amazing and talented her girlfriend was before pausing for breath.  
'You two seem pretty tight.' Gautier noted. 'Does she know about...?'  
Quinn nodded. 'I told her before we got together.' Alarm swept across Gautier's features. 'It's okay, Gaut, you can trust her. She'd never tell anyone.'  
'Are you sure?'  
'Yes, she's my soulmate, the love of my ridiculously long life, she'd never do anything to hurt me.' Quinn walked further into the room. 'Do you want something to drink? Coffee or...?'  
'Coffee would be good, thanks.'  
Quinn pottered around the kitchen for a while making the coffee's and then joined Gautier on the sofa placed in the centre of the room. 'So what have you been doing these past fourty years?'  
'Nothing much really. The usual. Elena grew up and I'm no longer assigned to her so I travelled the world for a while. I went everywhere, Egypt, Africa, Canada. It was pretty amazing. Obviously it took me longer than I expected because I kept getting assigned to different people all around the world, it got kind of tiring in the end. Looking after humans constantly is kinda exhausting.'  
'I noticed.' Quinn replied. She took a sip of her coffee and Gautier did the same. She wasn't looking at her old friend but she could tell he was staring at her with a calculating expression on his face. As he had done so many times before.  
'Are you wanting me to put you up for the night? Because you can sleep on the couch, you know.'  
'That would be much appreciated, thank you.' Gautier smiled.  
The rest of the night the two friends spent catching up on each others adventure and endeavours they'd been on and, by the end of it, it was twenty past one in the morning and Quinn was absolutely beat.  
'Right, m'off to bed.' She yawned. 'Spare cover and pillows in the airing cupboard. See you tomorrow.'  
'Good night, Quinnie.' Gautier said.  
'You know you don't have to call me that now. I'm almost a hundred years old, or I already am. I lost count after the first fifty.'  
'Good night, Quinn.'  
'Night, Gaut. Sleep tight.'

When Quinn picked Rachel up for school the next day she was practically bursting with news that Gautier was in town.  
'Guess what?'  
'You look like you've taken some form of drug, are you alright?'  
'I'm more than alright, I'm pissing ecstatic! You'll never guess who's in town!'  
'You're right, I won't. And I'm not entirely sure I want to either.'  
'Gautier! Gautier's back in town!'  
'As in _the _Gautier?'  
'Mm-hmm. And I want you to meet him. Tonight, if you can. After Glee!'  
'Okay, I will do. I hope you will have calmed down before then though.'  
'Not a chance in hell.'  
'Ah crap...'

That night after Glee Club Quinn took Rachel back to her apartment. Stopping off at Rachel's house on the way so they could tell Rachel's parents they would be there for tea that night. Rachel was a bag of nerves by the time they pulled up outside the apartment. 'What if he doesn't like me?'  
'Of course he'll like you.'  
'And if he doesn't?'  
'Then I'll ask him where he lost his mind and send him back to get it.'  
'Sounds like a plan.'  
The two girls got to Quinn's door and entered the room. Quinn turned the lights on and yelled out, 'Gautier? Where are you?'  
'I'm in the shower! Two minutes!' A man's voice came from the bathroom.  
'Is he allowed to use your shower?'  
'Rachel, the guy was there for me when I had no-one, he can use my shower all he wants.' Quinn lead Rachel to the sofa were the brunette sat nervously for a moment before the door of the bathroom opened a man wearing nothing but a pair of jeans walked out towel drying his long her. Even though Rachel tended to lean towards the women a little more even she could appeciate how good looking this man was. His upper body was lean and muscular and his facial feature were so parfect it was as if they'd been carved out of stone. His dark hair was wet and floppy and hung around his shoulders in neat curls. Rachel wondered vaguely whether being a Guardian Angel (she still called it that despite Quinn's attempts to tell her differently) made you instantly beautiful.  
'Gautier,' Quinn said. 'This is Rachel, my girlfriend. Rachel this is Gautier, my oldest friend. Ever.'  
'It's nice to finally meet you, Rachel, Quinn speaks very highly of you and it's nice to see you in the flesh.'  
'Likewise.' Rachel said. 'Quinn was ridiculously excited this morning about telling me you were in town.' The man smiled and Quinn bustled about for the next five minutes making coffee and starting to get the tea ready. All the while Rachel felt as if Gautier was surveying her through his dark eyes. It was a peculiar feeling that Rachel couldn't decide whether she liked or not. When Quinn had finally made tea Gautier didn't get up right away but watched how Rachel and Quinn acted around each other and how they spoke and touched one another. Rachel thought it was just a bit odd. When Gautier got up to go to the bathroom Quinn murmured to Rachel, 'He's not usually this quiet.'  
'I told you he wouldn't like me.'  
'Oh, I'm sure he does like you. When Gautier doesn't like someone I can usually tell, but, I can't tell what he's thinking, to be honest. It's been a while, I guess. He's changed a little more than I thought.' Rachel poked at her food for a moment and then Quinn asked, 'This is upsetting you, isn't it?'  
'He's you're oldest friend ever, Quinn. And you're my soulmate. I want him to like me and it seems like he just...doesn't.'  
'I'll have a word when he comes back from the toilet.' Quinn mutterd and she started to stand.  
'No! Please!' Rachel put her hand on Quinn's. 'I don't want it to be a big deal.'  
'I be subtle. I promise. He won't suspect a thing.'  
Rachel doubted that very much but she let Quinn go anyway. Rachel heard Quinn's angry whisper as if she was stood right next to her. 'What are you playing at, Gaut? Rachel's being perfectly nice to her and you're not even bothering to give her proper answers!'  
'I don't know what you mean.'  
'Oh, I think you do. Don't be so cruel, Gautier! If you don't like her then at least play nice a little better!'  
'I do like her. She's perfectly nice and you two are obviously so in love with each other. I just...'  
'What? You just what?'  
'You know you're going to have to leave her, don't you?' Rachel's heart sank. She knew what was coming. 'She's going to get old and you're not going to age at all and then what? Are you going to stay with her until she dies? How will that effect you? How will it effect her? She'll never be able to have a proper family, a proper life! There'll be none of that "getting married and dying at the same time" shit, will there? There'll be her getting old and you watching from the sidelines as her life is slowly taken away from her until you're left with nothing! Again. And who will have to pick up the peice? Me. Just like with Liana.'  
'Don't you dare bring her into this! She has nothing to do with Rachel, nothing! That was then and this is now! I've grown up a lot since then, Gautier. A whole lot. And if you don't want to be there to pick up the peices then don't stick around, don't come running when I call for you! And, who says there'll be any peices for you to pick up anway? Things might be different. Things will be different!'  
'How?'  
'I could Change her.'  
'You'd never do that. You'd never subject this life onto someone you loved and cared about! It's too cruel.'  
'You did with me.'  
'You were my first human to be assigned to. I chose the easy way of dealing with you. I don't do that now. It's called learning from you're mistakes, Quinn.' There was a silence in which Rachel heard her heart beat so loudly and quickly that she was sure the two Guardian Angel's must have heard it round the corner. 'You're going to have to leave her Quinn. You know you do. And the quicker you do it, the easier it will be.'  
Rachel had heard enough. Slamming down her knife and fork she left the apartment. She walked out into the cold air and hugged her body to keep warm. She'd left her jacket in Quinn's apartment. She cried silently for what seemed like ages. She felt as if the weight of the world was pressing down upon her and it was becoming difficult to breath. She tried taking huge gulps of air but it did nothing to help.

'Rachel? You left this upstairs.' It was Quinn. The jacket she'd craved was wrapped around her shoulders and then suddenly so were Quinn's arms. Rachel sobbed into her chest and she heard a sniffle or two from Quinn. The blonde was also crying.  
'What you heard,' Quinn said, holding Rachel at arms length and wiping away the brunette tears with her thumb. 'You don't need to worry about that.'  
'It's true though, isn't it? You're going to either have to Change me or leave me.'  
'I won't do either of those things. I won't leave you and I'm not damning you to roam this planet forever.'  
'And I won't let you watch me grow old from the sidelines.' Rachel told the blonde. Even though her voice was cracked the note of finality was still held. And Quinn knew that disagreeing wouldn't get her anywhere.  
'Then what do you want me to do, Rach?' Quinn's voice was exasperated. 'There is no way in hell I'm Changing you.'  
'Why not? Why won't consider-?'  
'Because living forever may seem good now, when you're human, but it get's unbelievably boring after a while. And there's nothing you can do to change it! You'll be stuck in this world forever with no escape.'  
'No world can be bad when it's you and me together, Quinn. No world at all.'  
Quin shook her head. 'I'm not Changing you, and that is final.'  
'What if I ask Gautier?'  
'He won't do it. He's against that now.'  
'So...what are you suggesting?'  
'I'm suggesting that you let me stay with you until you grow old and die and then I...I'll find a way to follow. I promise!'  
Rachel barely heard what Quinn was saying. A part of Quinn and Gautier's whispered argument had just come back to the brunette. 'Who is Liana?'  
'Nobody.'  
'Quinn, we're soulmates. We're supposed to tell each other everything!' The small girl look so defiant a smile split across Quinn's face and she gave in.  
'Fine, I'll tell you. And maybe this will change your mind about everything.'  
'By the sounds of it, it's more likely to change your mind, Quinn.'  
Quinn ignored her and started with the story. 'In the sixties when I was at Woodstock I met a girl. Her name was Liana. She was fun, sweet, funny, and, well, one step off being as amazing as you, to be honest. We got together at Woodstock and it was one of the best times of my life. She knew what I was. I told her. Like you, she didn't care. We stayed together as she grew up. I stayed the same. Then, one day, she went. She got hit by a passing bus and died in hospital hours after it happened. I was distraught. She was only thirty-nine when it happened and still the love of my life. I thought she was my soulmate. I was just deeply in love, I suppose. Gautier found me a week after her death, I didn't even recognise him I was that drunk out of my head. Alcohol, I'd found, was the easiest way to numb the pain of loosing a loved one. I drank and drank and drank until Gautier decided to put me in Rehab or some kind of alcoholic training programme thing. I managed to get off the booze and dealt with the grief the way everyone else did, with time and patience. And that...that is why this time I will find a way to follow you, Rachel. Because after you there is nothing else, no hope, no light, only darkness and a whole lotta pain. After you go I won't want to live.' Quinn talked quickly, as if she was hoping that making the story short would make it less painful.  
'No.' Rachel said after what seemed like an hours' silence. 'That is why we...we shouldn't carry on like this.'  
Quinn's world came tumbling down around her. 'What are you saying?'  
'I'm saying...I can't do that to you, Quinn. I can't let you watch me grow old and then die like Liana. And you won't Change me. So...that only leaves one solution.'  
'But...I don't want to leave you.'  
'And I don't want you to leave me either. I love you, Quinn, with everything that is inside of me, I love you. And that's why I can't be with you. The only way for us both to carry on is for us to not be together. It will hurt, mother of God, it will hurt so much but...it's the only way without _severe_ pain on both parts that we can carry on.'  
The blonde stepped closer to the brunnette. 'And I love you, Rachel. More than anything in this world. And, I can't believe I'm saying this but, I'm not even going to argue with you because...it's for the best. I don't want to hurt you, and I...I don't want to hurt anymore. It sounds pathetic but it's true. I'm sick of hurting people and hurting myself.'  
The two joined together for the last time. Ever. It was their last embrace. Their last kiss. Their last moment together. Both girls were crying madly now. Fast, thick tears were rolling down their cheeks and dropping off the ends of their noses and chins.  
'I love you.'  
'I love you, too.'  
And it hurt like fuck to realise that they were never going have a moment like that together. Never speak to each other. Never hold or touch each other. Never see each other again.  
It was the end of an era.  
And a damn special one at that.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

Rachel and Quinn didn't speak to each other for their remaining time at school. Quinn stayed, she had to for fear of blowing her cover, and Rachel watched as the blonde replaced her with Mercedes and Kurt, although sometimes she saw the blonde looking at her out the corner of her eye. Just looking, not doing anything to get Rachel's attention, just staring. As if she'd just come to Glee Club to look at her. Rachel tried getting over Quinn. God knows she tried. She tried dating Puck and Finn but neither worked. They both ended disasterously and Rachel actually almost reduced Finn to tears. But it didn't work. Nothing did. Not finding out who her real mom was. Not her real mom leaving her again. Not even when Jesse St. James came around could she take her mind off the blonde. It was as if Quinn was staying just to make it worse. That's what Rachel told herself anyway. But she knew her ex would never, ever want to hurt her that way, regardless of what went on between them. When school finished, completely finished, Rachel went to New York. She rented an appartment and got a job at a dry cleaners. She auditioned for musical parts in her spare time and was cast finally, after almost a years worth of auditions, for an off-Broadway musical. She thought that learning the choreography, her lines and the new songs would prove greater help in taking her mind off her ex-girlfriend but it proved just as useless as the other methods she'd tried.  
Then Rachel got sick. And then, after a stint in hospital for a few months, she got better and was released. Then the pain came back. Although Rachel was used to pain constantly nagging her by then, her roommate, Thea, still insisted on taking her back to the hospital where they ran a number of tests for her bones and blood. After staying in hospital again for almost three weeks the doctor came back with a terrifying result. Cancer. Rachel had heard the word before but she'd never quite realised how much of an impact it would have on her life.

Quinn was working late one night at a bar where she worked. It was past closing time and she was in the proccess of wiping down the tables and bar. She reached the end of the bar with her cloth and found that someone had left their newspaper lying around. Again.  
'Almost every night.' She muttered to herself angrily. The past year had not treated her well. Although Quinn had managed to deal with the pain and hurt splitting up from Rachel had caused her she'd never truly got over it. Even seeing the brunettes hair disappear through a closing door was enough to ignite the fire raging inside the blondes chest. And the result of her pain: a very bitter Quinn, a very bitter Quinn indeed. 'Surely these people must realise that not everyone's their mother. Not everyone will clean up after them.'  
As she moved the paper a few of the pages spilled out onto the floor. 'For fuck's sake.' The blonde bent down to pick them up. She was about to put them with the rest of the papers when something, a name, caught her eye. Rachel Berry.  
She skim read the article and her heart and stomach dropped like lead as she got nearer and nearer to the bottom. There had been quite a few articles about Rachel starring in plays and musicals about New York but none of them had bared bad news quite like this.  
'She...wha...no. She can't. She can't possibly have...no. I've got to be seeing things.' Quinn read the article again as if she hoped the writing had changed but found it exactly the same as before. She pulled out a bar stool and sat on it.  
'Quinn?' Freddie asked from the side of the bar. He was the landlords son and had become a rather good friend of Quinns. 'Quinn are you all right?'  
Quinn pointed to the article. 'Read the...read the bottom left paragraph.' There was a moments silence in which Freddie read the article. Quinn was breathing as if she'd just run a marathon but the air wasn't helping her to get her head around what she'd just read.  
'Rachel Berry? As in _the _Rachel Berry? The girl who's heart you broke when you were at high school?' Freddie asked after he'd finished reading the paper.  
Quinn nodded. It was all she could do, if she opened her mouth she'd probably scream the whole place down. 'Wow.' Freddie said and he sat down next to Quinn on the stools. 'What do you want to do?'  
'What do you mean, what do I want to do?' Quinn asked as if it was obvious. 'I need to see her. I need to tell her...I need to...'  
'Quinn, maybe it's not such a good idea for you to go and see a girl you've not seen since-'  
'I don't care.' Quin said, her voice deadly. 'I don't give a flying fuck whether I haven't seen her since high school. I don't care whether she doesn't recognise who I am. I don't care whether she slams the door in my face. I don't care! I need to see her. I need to tell her that I still...that I still love her! She needs to know!'  
'Why? Why does she need to know? It says her the cancer's in her bones and it's strong because they didn't catch it quickly enough. Which means...Quinn, honey, it means that she doesn't have a very strong chance of survival.'  
'I know what it means!' Quinn snapped. 'And I told you that I don't care. So you can either help me by getting my a cab or drive me to the hospital or you can stay here and watch as I ring a cab to take me to the hospital. Either way, Freddie, I am going to see my soulmate!' The blonde was so defiant, so unwavering that Freddie felt as if he had no choice. He sighed a frustrated sigh and said, 'Fine. If you're going to be so...so...Quinn-ish about it then I'll drive you. But I expect the same from you someday, remember.'  
'Yes, yes. Whatever. Just get your keys and move,' then, when she saw the mans expression, she added, 'please?'  
For Quinn it took too long for Freddie to find his keys and his car and when they finally got in the vehicle he obviously took far too long in pulling out of the spot he'd parked in. 'Hurry up! Hurry up!'  
'I'm going as fast as the car will go without getting fined or killed.' Freddie snapped at her and Quinn was immediately stunned that Freddie, sweet little innocent Freddie, had lost his temper with her. The car was filled with silence in which Quinn looked out of the window at the passing cars and buildings.  
'So...what's the plan?' Freddie asked after a while. He seemed to feel bad about snapping at Quinn. The blonde thought for a moment. The immediate answer was that she didn't have a clue what the plan was but she just knew that seeing Rachel was the best thing to do. Quinn shrugged.  
'I dunno.'  
'What about bursting in there and shouting that you love her?' Freddie proposed.  
Quinn looked at him. 'I am not going to do a Ross Gellar, Freddie. As nice as that episode of Friends was.'  
'What about giving her a heart-felt speech?'  
'Can we just...you know, not talk about it for a while? I need to get my thoughts together.' Quinn asked him and Freddie nodded in understanding. The truth was that Quinn was nervous. She didn't have a clue what she was going to do and Freddie shooting suggestions at her was not helping sooth her nerves. She watched the life outside the car for the rest of the journey through New York City and all the while planned a little speech in her head she was going to say to Rachel if, when, she finally got up to Rachel's room.  
They got to the hospital too soon, for all of Quinn's rushing, and the blonde felt a reluctance to go in. Her feet seemed to carry her to the building without her consent and pretty soon she was at the front desk asking for Rachel Berry's room.  
'I'm sorry, that information is classified for Rachel's family only.'  
'But I'm her girlfriend.' Quinn told the secretary before realising what she was saying. The words had just come to her so naturally that she didn't give it a second thought as she was speaking, but now that she'd said them she felt rather embarrassed. Though she didn't know why, the nurse didn't exactly know her and Rachel's background. 'You have to let me see her. Please.'  
The nurse thought for what seemed like months and months to Quinn before finally saying, 'All right. She's in room 32 on the third floor.'  
'Thank you. You're a pretty awesome person, for a secretary.' And Quinn raced off up the stairs. Not bothering with the life in case it was too slow.  
'I'll just wait down here then.' She heard Freddie call up. 'You know, it's fine and everything.'  
Quinn laughed, actually genuinly laughed, after what seemed like a lifetime. The muscles felt oddly still. Quinn got to the third floor and sped across the corridor, darting around staring patients, visitors and nurses and rounding corners at what was surely the speed of light but felt like the speed of a snail. She ran and ran and ran and ran until she felt like her heart was on fire and her lungs almost gave out. She didn't stop though. Not for anything. Her pain didn't mean anythng aslong as she reached Rachel...  
And there it was: Room 32. It may have only been a door to some people but to Quinn it was like the gateway to the heaven she was never going to reach. Pausing outside for breath Quinn had only a few seconds to gather her thoughts before the door was wrenched open from the inside. Quinn jumped back into the shadow almost straight away. Like it was customary to.  
'Okay, honey, we'll be sure to get you that magazine you wanted.' Both of Rachel's dad's were leaving the room. 'And make sure you get some rest, sweetie, okay? You're going to need it.' Her dad's closed the door and walked off with their arms around each other, Quinn thought they'd never looked so drawn and miserable.  
Quinn took a moment or two to compose herself and then, after a long breath of fresh air, she opened the door and entered...

Blonde and brunette stared at each other. Tall and small. Patient and visitor. Rachel looked absolutely stunnned and Quinn couldn't get anything out of her mouth except, 'Hey, Rach.'  
Rachel didn't say anything. The silence seemed to stretch on for years and years. The brunettes eyes had widened considerably and she looked rather like a goldfish. Her mouth opening and closing as she tried to stutter something. Anything. Eventually she manged, 'Quinn Fabray. You...you're...h-here?'  
Quinn smiled. 'Yep. I'm here.'  
'Wh-why? Why are you here? In m-my room? Sp-speaking to me?'  
'I read about your c-ca...disease in the paper.'  
'It was in the paper?'  
Quinn nodded. 'They say your one of Broadways biggest up-and-coming stars so this makes a pretty good story, I guess.'  
'Oh.' Another unhealthy silence. Rachel could comprehend what she seeing or hearing. Quinn Fabray was actually in her hospital room, Quinn Fabray had come to see her. She'd remembered her. After all this time. After all this time...  
Anger exploded in the pit of the brunettes stomach and she was suddenly shouting at the blonde. She didn't know where the words were coming from all she knew was that a years worth of pent-up frustration, grief and anger was pouring out from her and forming words that she was throwing at Quinn like knives. She was yelling so loud she was sure the bottom floor would be able to hear her. She was yelling about pain, about how much the blonde had hurt her in high school. About how she had to try and get over the girl she knew she never would. About how she'd tried, she tried so hard, to get close to other's but the fact that Quinn had scarred her so badly had prevented her from ever getting close to another. Ever. 'And now you're here looking like those things never happened. Like you can just come and see me in hospital and everything will just be fine. Well it won't Quinn. Mother of fuck it will not be all right! Do you not understand what you've done to me?'  
'And what about me?' Quinn had had it. She was yelling now. Yelling louder than Rachel had. 'I had to sit around and watch you flaunt Finn and Puck in front of me. Then I had to watch you break up with Jesse after he'd been a dick to you and go through pain again and knew there was nothing I could do about it because I'd sworn to myself never to allow you back in my life! I had to watch knowing that I was the main cause for your hurt and I could do shit all about that as well! There are two people in a relationship, Rachel, and just because I've lived for almost a hundred years it does not make me immune from emotions!'  
Silence fell again and the two girls panted heavily. Quinn felt sick and wondered if she looked as nauseous as the brunette in front of her. Neither of them said anything and the unhealthy silence dragged on. As much as Quinn had yelled she didn't feel angry. She felt bright, brighter than she had in two years. She'd finally got those feeling off her chest and Rachel had finally yelled at her like she knew she deserved. She finally had closure. But...she didn't want it. After a full year of wanting to put a lid on her hurt she now didn't want that lid. She just wanted to be back in Rachel's arms again.  
'Rachel I-'  
'I love you.' Rachel blurted out. Quinn's eyes widened in shock and a dull flush crept up into the Jewish girls cheeks. 'Even now. I still love you. And I don't want to loose you again. So, if you're planning on sticking around, stay. If you're not then...leave please. Before we hurt each other again.'  
Quinn thought. What did she want to do? Her heart was saying, _why are you even thinking about this? Stay, idiot, tell her you love her! _But her head was saying: _She's dying. Do you really want to go through what happened with Liana again? _She thought and she thought and she thought until, finally, and idea sprang up into her mind. It was crazy. Really, really crazy but people say that love makes you do crazy shit.  
'Rachel,' Quinn said, reminding them both of when they used to makes speeches of their love to one another. Both girls smiled in remembrance. 'I love you still. Still more than water, or air and I want more than anything to be with you. But...you are dying.' Rachel winced and Quinn felt regret pang in her stomach. 'And you know what I am.'  
'A Guardian Angel.' Rachel nodded. Quinn smiled.  
'Just a Guardian, Rach. Just a Guardian. And...you know what I can do, right?'  
Rachel seemed to think for just a moment and then her features contorted into watered-down anger. 'Quinn Fabray, are you telling me that, after all this time, you are now going to Change me anyway?'  
'Does that mean you're accepting?' Quinn asked, momentarily stunned. Things had gone pretty fast since Rachel had said 'I love you' five minutes ago. Rachel nodded. It was all she could do not to scream. And Quinn felt her heart inflate so much that she felt like her chest was going to burst. She ran to the bed and didn't even think about what she was doing. Diving on top of Rachel the two embraced. They kissed so fiercely that both girls felt that they were going to explode with passion and need. It had been so long. Rachel felt like she was putting all she felt for the girl in the kiss. And Quinn felt the exact same way. And the result? Two seriously out of breath girls.  
Quinn wrapped her arm around the girl and Rachel sunk into Quinn's upper-body like they had done so many times before.  
'I love you, Quinn.'  
'I love you too, Rach.'

The next day the two girls were woken up by Rachel's dad's bustling into the room. Quinn had slept overnight on the chair. The nurses hadn't let her stay in the same bed. The two girls had agreed that they would wait until Rachel's dad's knew Quinn was back until the Change happened. Both were nervous. Especially Quinn. The blonde had never Changed anyone before, she knew how it went. Gautier had told her. Rachel was more excited than Quinn was. The two girls had argued for a while over the fact that Rachel wanted to tell her parents what Quinn was, and what she was going to be, and Quinn felt that it was best if they just pretended she'd got better naturally. Rachel had won. That's why when Quinn was woken up by the two men entering the room she felt as if her stomach had fallen out.  
'Hey, honey, we brought you the magazine you-' Kevin stopped speaking and looked from girl to girl. So did Phil.  
'Quinn Fabray?' Phil asked. 'Is that you?'  
'Hey Mr. Berry. And Mr. Berry again.' Quinn said, with a small smile.  
'Quinn saw an article in the paper about how I'm ill and came to see me, Dad and Daddy. Isn't that nice?'  
'Very nice...' Kevin muttered to himself. 'Are you two...are you I mean, back together again? Because maybe now isn't the best time with Rachel in hospital...'  
The two girls looked at each other for a moment and then Rachel said, 'Dad, Daddy. I think you'd better sit down.'

It took almost an hour to convince Mr. and Mr. Berry that Rachel and Quinn were telling the truth. The men were strangely reluctant to believe. At the end of the conversation both men sat in their armchairs with ashen faces looking as they'd like nothing better than to throw up.  
Finally Phil managed to mumble, 'So you...you're, er...you can't...age?'  
Quinn shook her head. 'No, I can't age.'  
'And you...you want to, erm...Change our daughter to being like...like you?'  
Quinn nodded. 'Yes, but only with your consent.'  
Kevin and Phil exchanged a luck. 'She is legally an adult.' Kevin said a small shrug. Phil nodded. Kevin looked at his daughter. 'If this is really what you want, honey, we can't stop you.'  
Rachel nodded vigorously. 'This is what I want, Daddy, more than anything in the world.' She looked at Quinn as though to reasure her. 'Anything.' She repeated forcefully. 'And don't think you're going to change your mind.'  
Quinn held up her hands in retreat. 'I won't! I won't. I've given you mind word. I will stick by it.'  
'When are you planning to...er, do it?' Phil asked.  
'Well...we really shouldn't wait long. Or else Rachel's condition might deteriorate to a point of no return so it's safer the sooner we do it.'  
'And you're going to Change her here?'  
'Yes.' Quinn looked at her girlfriend. 'When do you want to do it, hun?'  
'Tonight.' Rachel said. Kevin and Phil looked startled. 'I'm sorry but I really don't see the point in waiting.'  
'Me neither.' Quinn said, blowing out a breath and walking over to the window. 'You have thought this through, haven't you, Rach?'  
'Quinn, it's been all I could think about since we split up. This "what if" has never been off my mind long enough. I'm ready.'  
'And her career? You're not going to be on Broadway you know, honey.' Kevin said kindly.  
'I know Daddy. But as long as I'm with Quinn nothing matters.'  
Phil chuckled happily and Rachel realised that her Dad was almost crying. 'You two.' He said fondly. 'It's like a match made in heaven, I swear.'  
The brunette and blonde smiled at each other.  
Didn't they both know it.

Night had fallen. The curtains had been drawn. The visiting hour was almost up and Quinn had told Rachel's parents that everything would be fine. Rachel sat nervous and excited in her hospital bed and Quinn sat next to her pale faced and not saying anything. 'You're not having second thoughts, are you?'  
'No, no.' Quinn said. 'This is going to cure you and as long as your healthy and happy then so am I.'  
For what seemed like the millionth time that day, there was a silence.  
'Quinn?' Rachel said after an hour. 'I think you should do it now.'  
Quinn stood up. 'You sure?'  
The brunette nodded.  
'Okay...here goes. You have to trust me.'  
'I do. Always.'  
She touched Rachel's forehead with her finger tips and imagined. She imagined her Guardian qualities in liquid form and in a goblet. Then she imagined pouring the contents of the goblet into Rachel's mouth. She imagined Rachel glowing and getting hotter and she felt the sensation at her finger tips. Then she imagined the brunette going ice-cold and, like before, the girl went cool at the thought. Quinn knew the girl must be feeling fuzzy by now and she drew her finger tips away.  
'I think I need to go to sleep, now.' Rachel muttered and her head slumped onto her shoulder. Quinn's nerves died down and she repeated the words Gautier had said to her when she was Changing.  
'Goodnight, my beautiful Rachel. You will need your rest for the years that come.'

Rachel woke up. Her head was fuzzy and the light from the curtains didn't help. She cast a look about the room. Quinn was alseep on the chair across the room, her blonde hair spilling across her face and onto the arm and Rachel, like she used to when they were at McKinley, couldn't believe her luck. She noticed, with detatched surprised, that her bones weren't hurting. The usual aching in her back and legs had gone and in there wake had left the Jewish girl feeling replenished with energy and...well, alive. 'Quinn,' the brunette whispered across the room. The blonde stirred but then carried on sleeping. 'Quinn, wake up.'  
'No...I don't wanna wake...' Quinn woke up. Lifting her head off the chair she looked up at Rachel. 'Rach, are you...do you feel okay?'  
'I feel better than okay...I feel alive!' Rachel got up off the bed and walked over to her girlfriend. 'How are you? Are you feeling all right?'  
'Me? I'm fine. It's you we should be worrying about.'  
Rachel opened her mouth to say something when the door clicked open and both girls turned to face it.  
'Rachel, my favourite patient, how are we doing...?' The Doctors voice trailed off when he saw Rachel stood in the middle of the room in no apparent pain. 'What's going on? Are you all right?'  
'I'm fine.' Rachel said, with a big grin. 'Actually, I'm amazing.'  
'Seriously?' The Doctor asked and then he coughed. 'I'm sorry, how unprofessional of me. Any aches? Any pains? How's your back?'  
'It's fine, Doctor Kyle. Honestly I'm-'  
'What about your appetite? Do you feel up to eating anything?'  
'Actually,' Rachel said, the thought just occuring to the girl. 'I really could murder a grilled cheese sandwich.'  
The Doctor looked from Rachel to Quinn, who said, 'Don't ask me, I've just been rudely woken up by her.'  
'So...let me get this straight...do you feel ill at all?'  
'Nope. Not at all. I feel right as rain.'  
'Okay...' The Doctor looked baffled. 'I think I need to run a few tests. I'll be back in a minute.'  
The man left and Quinn and Rachel ran at each other. They embraced quickly and then pulled apart, fighting for breath yet again.  
'You're really fine?'  
'More than fine,' Rachel answered, 'I get to spend an eternity with you.'  
'I love you so much it's unreal.'  
'I love you, too.'

A day and millions of tests later Rachel got the all-clear. 'I guess you must be one of those lucky few...' Doctor Kyle said, scratching his head. He discharged Rachel an hour later and the blonde and brunette left the building. 'Where to first?' Rachel asked when they got in a taxi. 'My dads' B&B they're staying in?'  
'Oh, my God, Freddie!' Quinn cried, slapping a hand against her forehead. 'We can't go to your dads' yet.' Then to the taxi driver she said the name of an address quickly.  
'And Freddie is?'  
'The guy who drove me to the hospital two days ago. I'd completely forgotten about him. I need to...'  
'Does he know about what you, I mean we, are?'  
Quinn shook her head. 'No, does it matter?'  
'So, you're going to walk into his house with your supposedly cancer ridden girlfriend and tell him we're off to travel the world?'  
'Is that what we're doing?' Quinn raised her eyebrows.  
Rachel nodded. 'Yep, I want to do everything, Quinn. All the things that you did. And that includes the festival stuff as well.'  
'Do we have to?'  
'Yes. Or are you too old to go to festivals nowadays?' Rachel taunted.  
Quinn smiled. 'Oh, so that's how we're playing it, are we? If so, I can show you a thing or two about how to party at a festival, Rachel Berry.'  
'I can't wait.' Rachel said.  
And she couldn't. The thought of a festival may once have scared the brunette, the thought of leaving her family and friends and stability to travel the world would have made her go weak at the knee's but with Quinn with her, with her soulmate by her side, they could tackle anything. As long as she had her destiny solidly at her side.  
And the everlasting life helped a little as well.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

**Lima, 2067.**

'Come on, Zooey, we're going to be late!' Rachel yelled up the stairs.  
'Five more minutes!' A moody yell came back down the stairs. Quinn joined her wife at the bottom of the stairs. 'Two more minutes or I am going to kick you down those stairs and out the door!' She yelled. 'And don't think I'm not serious!'  
'You don't have to be so harsh, hun.'  
'I thought we agreed when we adopted her it would good cop bad cop?' Quinn asked.  
'Yes, but I think threatening to kick her out the door is going a little too far, don't you?' Rachel asked. Quinn shrugged and looked around the house. It was a nice, moderately sized house with three bedrooms, upstairs and downstairs toilets, a garage and a big front and back yard. Quinn looked around the kitchen and a photo caught her eye. The photo of her and Rachel when they were at a festival in England.  
Walking over to the fridge the blonde asked, 'How come this is up?'  
'To remind us of how young and free we used to be.' Rachel said, wrapping her arm around her wife's waist and smiling.  
'Not so much anymore, huh?' Quinn asked as their sixteen year-old daughter came tramping down the stairs.  
'To remind me of how embarassing the pair of you are more like.' She muttered darkly to the women, who laughed and shook their heads.  
'You ready?' Quinn asked her.  
'Obviously. Or are you just looking for a reason to kick me out the door?'  
'Honey, I'm always looking for a reason to kick you out the door.' Quinn said and Rachel hit her on the arm. As they walked out of the door Quinn said to the girl, 'Have you lost your skirt or just not bothered to put one on today?'  
'Mom!' The girl blushed and looked about the rows of houses in case someone was listening.  
'Don't be so cruel!' Rachel said more seriously. 'It's only the fashion. She'll grow out of it.'  
'One can only hope.' Quinn muttered. The three girls got in the car and Rachel said to Zooey out of habit, 'Remember, if anyone asks we're your sisters.'  
'Yeah, I know. I know. Why anyone would ask about you, though, I have no idea.' Zooey said impatiently.  
'Oi, enough of the cheek, Zo, or is that gig tomorrow night not important to you?' Quinn asked and the dark haired girl sunk into her seat a little further and tried to ignore the embarrassing parents. The rest of the car journey Rachel and Quinn spent reminising about the gigs they went to.  
'Do you remember Slam Dunk festival of 2011?' Quinn asked Rachel who nodded.  
'Only too well.' The brunette muttered. Quinn laughed.  
'Your Mom tried weed for the first time at that festival.' Quinn told Zooey. 'She took such a long drag I thought she was trying to-'  
'Finish off the whole joint. And she was sick for three days straight. Yeah, I know.' Zooey finished for her. She looked at her Mom through the rear-view mirror. 'Yet you seem reluctant to let me try it.'  
'That's because me and your Mommy can't die or age.' Quinn told her. 'When we, if we, Change you then you will be allowed too. But don't make us Change you just so you can try weed.'  
'Don't get me wrong, I love you both, but I don't think that this is a suitable conversation for a mother and daughter to be having on the way to school.' Rachel said, both mother and daughter laughed. The daughter unwillingly. The car pulled up outside of McKinley high and the two girls watched as their daughter climbed out and walked away. Trying to make it look like she hadn't been dropped off by her parents.  
Quinn rolled down the window and yelled out, 'We'll pick you up at three! Bye, honey, we love you!' And Zooey ignored them but many by-passers turned to look. Quinn rolled up the window laughing and pulled away from the car.  
'You are cruel.' Rachel said, although a small smile had split across the brunettes face.  
'But you love it.'  
'I love you.'  
The blonde took hold of the brunettes hand as they drove away from the school were it had all started for them.  
'I love you, too.'  
And that was all that mattered.


End file.
